Pull Marketing Blog

Want Your Company To Succeed At Social Media Marketing? Develop Some Character First!

  

 Email Article  

Tweet  

  

  

 delicious  

  

Instead of sticking out and saying something different, they agree with all the popular blog posts, Retweet all the same content, and are following all the same thought leaders. In an attempt to reach the thought leader level of success, those with social media aspirations do what their idols do and fail to stick out in any meaningful way. This is exactly what Umair Haique was trying to say in his blog post, "From Social Media to Social Strategy", over at the Harvard Business Review blog.

10 Second Summary: If your company thinks social media is just another channel for talking at your community rather than with them, don't even bother getting involved. One way to get started talking with them is to develop some character.

Whenever I come across a thought piece article like this, I try to think of how to make it actionable. Theories are great to read but they're a pain in the butt to implement. With that in mind, here are 3 things you can do today to make sure your business has some character and is starting to develop a voice.

1. Monitor Twitter Activity

I urge you to go to your Twitter page right now. Go. Look at the first page of your Tweets. What do you see? If you only see links to your blog posts, press releases, or even worse, sales material, your business has as much character as a snowman in spring time. Start conversing and developing your voice.

2. Say Something Different

2 weeks ago, I took a stand on the issue of blog commenting vs Twitter. Right now, Twitter is so blazing hot in the B2B world but I see firsthand how difficult it is for these companies to actually use it effectively. I took a stand and am still proud of it. To be fully transparent, we received the most amount of comments on a blog post ever on that day. Don't be afraid to take a stand.

3. Just Getting Started? Start With Brand You.

One of the hardest working people in social media today is Kristin Dziadul, a talented recent marketing graduate. In just a short amount of time, she has been able to position herself as an expert in personal branding. The company that Ms. Dziadul decides to work with long term will reap the benefit of someone who has already established a personal brand, knows how to be social, and has already demonstrated solid expertise in making connections. If you're struggling to do this with your business brand, lose the company Twitter name and change to a more personal one.

What are your tips for adding more character to your social strategy? How do you take all the theories on social media marketing and make them work for you? Leave a comment below!